May 30, 2018
Jonah stepped out of the car that had picked him up from the airport, calling a, "Thank you!" to the driver he had already paid. The car pulled away from the curb, leaving him to look at the row of buildings in front of him.
Unsure of exactly where he was, he took a left and started making his way down the sidewalk.
He was searching for a certain coffee shop, more specifically, the one Eliska had described to him several times as her favorite place to get coffee in her hometown in Southern Indiana.
Esther, of course, had everything to do with him being in Indiana at all. It was Eliska's birthday, and she absolutely insisted that it was necessary for him to cut his time with his family short to go surprise and visit her. He was hesitant, but Esther convinced him that her eighteenth was too important to miss.
The building came into view. That was when he realized he was nervous. Despite himself, he took a deep breath, pulled the door of the shop open, and stepped inside.
His eyes swept over the space. At first glance, he thought she wasn't there, and that he would have to use her address that she had given him two weeks before when he was planning to send her something for her birthday, but then he saw her.
Her hair was pulled back and she was leaning on one elbow over the book that was lying flat on the table. He walked over, attempting to compose himself, and set the present he was holding down in front of her.
"Hey, stranger," he said.
She raised her head and did a double take before a gorgeous, genuine smile appeared on her face. She stood quickly, their arms immediately wrapping each other up in a hug.
"What are you doing here?" she said, voice laced with obvious elation.
"Surprising you; I know you've been missing me."
She scoffed lightly, pulling away from him, but did not take her hands off his arms.
"Aren't you supposed to be visiting your family?" she asked. Her eyes widened. "Jonah Marais, you did not leave them to be here."
He just raised an eyebrow at her. She hit him in the chest.
"You did, you little stink."
"You're too important," he said. That was effective in making her shut up and sit down.
He slid into the seat across from her, pushing the package he had brought towards her.
She glanced at it and then back at him, her shoulders drooping, and her head falling to one side.
"Jonah," she mumbled, as if saying, you shouldn't have gotten me anything.
"Open it," he said, smiling gently.
She did, pulling off the wrapping paper to reveal every single one of John Green's books.
John Green held a special place in her heart. She saw the author with nothing but pure and utter respect because as a reader, she was able to enjoy every single work he created. He wrote with a style that was unlike any other; he wrote simply and authentically. The lives of the characters in his books weren't cliché, they didn't fall over each other in love, something terrible—just to thicken the plot—didn't occur every other chapter, and she appreciated that more than she could put into words.
"Stop it," she exclaimed, looking them all over, eyes dancing. Finally, she returned her attention to the boy who was watching her with evident amusement.
